A novel study has suggested that a vegetarian diet could help defend against a common bowel disorder. It was found that vegetarian were a third less prone to suffer diverticular disease, it is a condition believed to be caused by consuming inadequate amount of fibre.
The diverticular disease may cause cramps, bloating, constipation, wind and diarrhea. In order to investigate the affect of vegetarian diet a team led by Dr Francesca Crowe from the Cancer Epidemiology Unit at Oxford University, observed more than forty-seven thousand British adults, among those more than fifteen thousand were vegetarian.
After the regular follow up of more than eleven year they found eight hundred and twelve cases of diverticular disease. But, the subjects in the vegetarian group had thirty percent lower risk of suffering the disease, in comparison to those in meat eating group.
The reason could be the consumption of meat altering the metabolism of bacteria in the colon, by weakening the colon wall and increasing the risk of diverticular disease, explained Dr Crowe. They found nothing significant about the amount of meat eaten. The potential defending benefits of vegetarianism could be obtained even in a short time.
There also seemed to be a connection between eating more fibre and being at lower risk of the disease. The patients who consumed more than twenty-five gram per day had forty-two percent lower risks in comparison to those who consumed less than fourteen gram per day.